The Ross Street House by Richard Wittschiebe Hand Architects

February 27, 2010 Filed Under: Homes Design

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This beautiful 2,700 square foot Ross Street House is the architects own home design located in Madison, Wisconsin. This residential projects was designed by its own owner, Carol Richard, founding partner of the Atlanta-based architecture firm Richard Wittschiebe Hand Architects. This box-shaped residence is known as the Ross Street House, was recognized as Wisconsin’s first LEED for Homes Platinum rated residence in July 2009. The home has captured the attention of green enthusiasts throughout the country for far exceeding the requirements to achieve the highest LEED rating of Platinum.

The southern facade of this ross street house was designed to capture as much of the winter southern sun as possible while shading the sun in the summertime. The concept of a box camera generated the form with the roof gently sloping from south to north. Sunlight that enters the home is controlled with fixed louvers attached outside the south facing windows.

Computer modeling in ArchiCAD was utilized to study the amount of daylight that would enter the building during the winter and summer solstices. The louvers are designed to allow the sunlight to penetrate deep into the space between October and February while shading the windows between May and August.

The main level is an open plan with service elements on the west side and living spaces on the east side. An open stair visually connects all three floors and is anchored by a three-story high wall. The upper level has a study opening onto the living room and a master bedroom suite. The lower level has additional bedrooms, a beer making room, storage, and a workroom.

Outside the home, the front and back yards are transformed into garden spaces. An overall incorporation of native perennial plants and no turf grass make the yard low-maintenance. A rain garden and vegetable garden are located in the back yard next to the detached garage. A rainwater collection and retention system that stores 650-gallons of water is stored below the back porch. Pervious paving and limited impervious hardscaping for the driveway and walkways were used.

The Ross Street House by Richard Wittschiebe Hand Architects